In a medical malpractice case, the victim will be first allowed to present expert witnesses in support of the claim, and after that, the defense will have the chance to present their expert witnesses to refute the claim. This is the usual way, medical malpractice case proceeds at trial, and the defense’s expert witnesses get to have the final say. However, does the victim have a right to present a rebuttal witness to counter the points made by the defense’s expert witness? This is allowed only in certain instances.
In a medical malpractice case, the victim will be first allowed to present expert witnesses in support of the claim, and after that, the defense will have the chance to present their expert witnesses to refute the claim. This is the usual way, medical malpractice case proceeds at trial, and the defense’s expert witnesses get to have the final say. However, does the victim have a right to present a rebuttal witness to counter the points made by the defense’s expert witness? This is allowed only in certain instances.
Bringing Rebuttal Witness after the Defense has Presented their Expert Witness
Bringing in a rebuttal witness is always a maybe in most cases. However, there are certain instances where the judge might allow a rebuttal witness. In many medical malpractice lawsuits, the plaintiff or the victim may not be allowed to address certain issues or points during the course of trial. The expert witnesses presented by the victim’s attorney could be prevented from talking on these certain points. However, when the defense brings in their expert witnesses, they may start talking about the exact same points that the victim’s witnesses were not permitted to talk about.
Asking Permission from the Judge
The issue that the victim’s expert and standout witnesses were never allowed to address is now being talked about by the defendant’s expert witnesses. In such instances, after the defense expert witnesses have given their testimony, the victim’s lawyer can ask the judge permission to call a rebuttal witness. At such point, the defense will most probably object, and the judge will have to hear legal arguments from both sides.
Key Things to Focus On
During the legal arguments, the plaintiff’s attorney will have to focus on certain important key points. First, the lawyer can say that the victim was not permitted to present these points through his expert and marvelous witnesses. However, the defense opened the door to these issues, when their expert witnesses talked about these exact same issues during their testimony.
The court had ruled that the plaintiff could not talk about these issues, and it was not objected by the victim’s lawyer. However, now, the victim needs to bring in expert witnesses to address these issues, which were talked about during the defendant’s expert and superlative testimony. In such instances, the judge might allow the plaintiff to bring in their expert witness to address these points as a rebuttal. This expert witness will now focus solely on the key points that were not allowed to be discussed before.
A Deliberate Ploy of the Defense
Presenting points that the victim’s expert and salient witness was not allowed to talk about, could be a deliberate defense strategy. The defense will want to leave a lasting impression on the jury, by bringing up the issues that were not talked about up to now. In such instances, the victim’s lawyer can ask the judge permission to present a rebuttal witness to address those issues. If the legal arguments are in order, and the defense cannot provide a convincing objection, then a rebuttal witness is usually allowed.
